Lonely
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: In his off season (Ie. Summer, Autumn and Winter) Bunny transforms into his baby bunny form to conserve energy, but the Warren is big and Lonely and Bunny is feeling the aftereffects of a ruined easter. That's where Jack Frost comes in.
1. Chapter 1

_Ok. That's it. No more Kink meme for me... except that there is one more prompt I'm dying to fill. Damnit!_

_I am aware I should be finishing off "A Little Scratch", but this prompt sort of grabbed me and wouldn't let go._

_Basically in his off season (Ie. Summer, Autumn and Winter) Bunny transforms into his baby bunny form to conserve energy_, _but the Warren is big and Lonely and Bunny is feeling the aftereffects of a ruined easter. That's where Jack Frost comes in. (I took some liberties with the Prompt, but it seems to be working)_

Aster was huddled in his burrow, watching his Warren through the small opening he had left. Normally he'd be past this stage by now, he'd be out there, planting his seedlings and deciding on paint and patterns for next Easter. In fact it was doubly important to make sure Easter was prepared and ready, after the disaster that had been this year.

As spring drew to a close and bled into summer, it sapped his energy, and instead of just letting it go like he did every year previously, he had clung with his last shreds to his bigger form, almost afraid to let it go, afraid to slip back down to his smaller form.

He knew he needed to conserve as much energy as possible, just in case something should come up, but it made him nervous to be in his smaller form, especially this year, but in the end her had succumbed, changed and hidden himself away in a small burrow overlooking the river to rest.

The others might have thought it silly of him to have a smaller burrow in his Warren, after all, the whole place was a rabbit's paradise, but sometimes, usually at the start of summer when he first changed, everything was just too big, too lonely, and he couldn't stand it.

So he hid from it, just for a little while until he felt he could handle it again.

This year he'd hid all summer, venturing out only for the necessities before crawling back into the burrow to hide again. It was silly and it was stupid, but he couldn't really bring himself to care, even as summer ticked over into the start of autumn, the opposite season to spring, the most draining time of the year for him.

"Bunny!"

The sound cut like cracking ice across the silence of the Warren and Aster couldn't contain his flinch. No one ever came to the Warren during his off seasons. No one ever came to the Warren at all. He supposed he hadn't actually told that to Jack.

He wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Bunny!" Jack called again.

Aster could hear the vibrations as Jack made his way to the top of the hill he was hiding under.

"Huh… Would have thought this place would be a bit more lively." He heard Jack mutter. "Bunny! I'm gonna freeze your river!"

Bunny's ears twitched in indignation, but he decided to stay hidden. Jack would get bored and go away soon and he could return to his quiet contemplation, because even if he was lonely, he wasn't that lonely.

Eventually Jack did leave and Bunny ventured outside for a short feed. He looked over at the meadow he had chosen to plant his new crop of eggplants, and was disheartened to see nothing growing.

Tomorrow, he decided. He would start planting tomorrow.

xxx

He got as far as pulling the seeds out of their storage place before he returned to his burrow, tired. He should have done this during the summer when he had been more energetic. At this rate he wouldn't get much done at all. Maybe he'd try again later, after he slept.

"Bunny!"

He was woken by Jack's voice, pulled back to wakefulness by a note of concern. Jack was sounding a bit frantic and Aster wondered why. Curious he peered out of his burrow to see Jack standing beside the seedlings he had set out earlier, looking round him as if searching. It took Aster a moment to realise that Jack was concerned that something had happened to him, that he had taken in the significance of the seedlings and the lack of Aster himself to mean the worst.

Not wanting everyone to end up tramping around his warren (because he just knew that would be the next logical step for Jack to take) he left his small burrow and hopped a few paces towards Jack.

"Right here Frostbite." He rasped out, not really surprised his voice sounded so disused, he hadn't even been talking to himself like he normally would.

Jack moved so fast that Aster didn't even have the chance to put up even a token struggle before Jack had scooped him up and crushed him to his chest. Neither of them said a word, and Jack continued to hold Aster close until Aster was almost sure he had turned into some kind of statue. He nuzzled at the blue clad arm and Jack gave a little start and set Aster back down again.

"So what brings you down here?" Bunny asked, trying his best to look like he didn't care, that all of this was perfectly natural.

There was a slight hesitation before Jack replied. "Oh, you know, just thought I'd come see my favourite Bunny." He put the right amount of mischievousness into his tone, but Aster wasn't stupid, but he decided to ignore the worry for now.

"Well, you've seen me, so rack off." He told him. "I have work to do." And he hopped towards the seedlings.

He did his best to ignore Jack and picked up the first seedlings to transport it to the meadow he had chosen. Jack must have left at some point, but Aster couldn't quite remember when he had gone, and he felt a little heavy when he realised this.

But he was tired again, so he went back to his little burrow and slept.

xxx

When he next woke it was to off key singing, loud enough to prevent him drifting off again. He grumbled and stirred. Who on earth was singing in his Warren? It was then, when that thought had flittered across his mind that Aster tensed, ears going flat against his head.

It took longer than it should have for him to shake himself loose from the paralyzing effect of that memory.

He peered out of his burrow nervously. Nothing to see. So he hopped out a few paces and looked round, and was absolutely gobsmacked by what he saw.

Jack Frost was in the meadow, up to his elbows in dirt, singing cheerfully (and badly). The seedlings were gone from where he had left them. Aster was not sure whether he should panic or go in all boomerangs flying.

He made his way to the meadow quickly, stopped a few paces from Jack and watched him, his foot thumping nervously on the ground as he surveyed how Jack was planting the seedlings, taking in the neat row already made.

"Oh, hey Bunny!" Jack grinned.

"What are you doing?" Aster questioned.

"Planting." Jack replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Aster growled a little. "I meant why."

Jack shrugged. "Looked like fun."

A barefaced lie if ever Aster saw one; but he really wasn't in the mood to uncover the truth. He'd leave it to Tooth; North and Sandy to find out what was wrong the kid. He simply did not have the energy for it.

There were a few moments of awkward silence while Aster tried to find the words to tell Jack to go away, and Jack continued to plant. But in the end Aster just picked up a seedling and began planting himself. It wasn't ideal, but maybe the planting would get done faster if Jack stayed.

He was beginning to droop as midday approached, and grumbled to himself. Autumn was a horrible season. He continued on, and would have pushed himself far more than he really should have if cold hands hadn't circled him and lifted.

He struggled a little, not liking how easy it was for Jack to manhandle him like this, but Jack ignored his bucking and twisting to lift him over his shoulder and deposit him in the hood of his hoodie.

"There." Jack said. "Now you can look over my shoulder and complain I'm not doing it right."

Aster scrabbled for a moment in the Hood before he was able to right himself and pulled himself up to Jack's shoulder. "Put me down!" he hissed in Jack's ear.

"Nope." Jack smiled, and went back to his planting.

It was hardly a long jump to the ground, Aster would be able to make it easily, but instead he found himself curling up slightly in the curve where Jack's shoulder met his neck and before long his eyes had dropped closed completely and he slept.

_Next part is from Jack's POV._


	2. Chapter 2

_I apologise for how abrupt the ending of this might be... I had wanted to make it go on until it became a Bunny/Jack fic, but it seems my muse was not with me. However I do hope you enjoy._

Jack had not been worried, but he couldn't deny that he felt less uneasy now. He couldn't quite pinpoint the uneasy feeling, or why he had felt compelled to find Bunny. But now that he was here, planting seedlings, with Bunny's small weight heavy against his shoulder, he did feel better, lighter almost.

He worked quickly, humming under his breath, wondering as he did why Bunny had not already planted the seedlings. He had assumed that Bunny would have gone into overdrive trying to make sure everything was perfect for next year.

Jack could understand that, had expected it, because of all of the Guardians, Bunny had been the most affected, his holiday was over, and though Jack knew the other Guardians were doing what they could to foster belief in Easter, and Bunny again, it wouldn't be completely fixed until next Easter, when he was able to prove again that he did exist.

So the eerie emptiness of the Warren when had first arrived had unnerved him a little, the only movement was the paint rivers, and even they seems sluggish and slow. Finally seeing Bunny had helped explain that. The Warren obviously drew its power from Bunny, like the tooth palace did from Tooth, so if Bunny was not feeling 100% it stood to reason that the Warren wouldn't be either.

At last he had planted all the seedlings he could and stood, panicking for a moment when he felt Bunny slip backwards off his shoulder, only to shake his head with a bemused smile when he felt Bunny's full weight catch in his hood.

Lifting his staff, he let the small breeze lift him up and set him back down close to the hill he guessed Bunny had been sleeping in, or under. He sat in the silence, watching the river until tiredness over came him as well. Autumn still wasn't winter, so he was feeling the effects of an "Off season" himself.

xxx

He woke slowly to the sound of something scraping lightly over paper. It took him a long moment to place exactly where he was when he blinked his eyes open to reveal Green, green and even more green.

"Bunny?" he asked, forcing himself to sit up and rubbing his eyes, looking round blearily until he was the tiny grey and black form dragging a paintbrush taller than itself across a large sheet of paper.

"Yeah mate." Bunny answered him without looking across, his voice still as rusty sounding as it had been two days ago.

Jack pushed himself to his feet, leaving his staff on the grass, and wandering the few steps across to drop down cross legged beside the paper and watching the paintbrush swirl across the page. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Bunny didn't answer immediately, and Jack briefly wondered if he had overstepped some sort of line. With Bunny he could never be quite sure. "Making Patterns." Bunny said at last, the paintbrush stilling.

"Oh." Jack said, before realisation hit him. "Oh! For the eggs!"

Bunny was still for another moment before nodding and continuing to spiral the brush across the page. Jack watched him, surprised to see what he'd at first taken to be just random lines, coming together to form a pattern that looked a lot like two flowers twisting around each other.

"Can I try?" he asked.

Bunny startled and Jack winched when he saw the splodge of yellow in a place he was pretty certain Bunny had not intended, but with a quick twirl that would have made anyone else look silly, he somehow managed to turn it into a flower bloom.

"You don't have to. I don't know who sent ya to check up on me. Or why they think I even need checking up on, but I'm sure you've got better things to be doing."

Jack frowned, trying to decipher if he had been insulted, before finally deciding that maybe, just maybe, Bunny might be even worse at this than him. He shrugged. "First frosts aren't due for another few months." He said, like it would explain everything, and he hoped it would, because he didn't really have any reason he wanted to say to stay.

Bunny made a "Hmpf" sound, before he motioned to the stack of paper off to the side and the paintbrushes lined up beside it.

They drifted into companionable silence while they painted. Jack enjoying sweeping the brush across the page, recreating his snowflakes in a combination of garish colours. He didn't even notice at first that he was painting alone, that Bunny had abandoned his own patterns to lean heavily at his side, watching him quietly.

If Bunny was offended by Jack's free hand coming down to lift him he never said. Just shifted a little to make himself comfortable in the curve of Jack's crossed legs so he could still look at the colourful snowflakes.

Neither of them said anything when Jack began to stroke his ears.

xxx

Aster scuffed at his nose to hide a yawn. He still didn't know why Jack was here, but maybe that didn't matter so much. It was nice to have someone else around.


End file.
